In closed system groups, to ensure accountability, the vision and action plans can be tied to compensation and advancement. It was possible to put “teeth” into the decisions. We have some “push” power to enact the change we want.
In multi-sector collaborations, how do we ensure accountability and follow-through? I believe we must move from a “push” form of motivation to a powerful “PULL.”
How do we work together to create a common vision and pathway forward that is SO COMPELLING that people can’t help but become excited and put their energy into following through? How do we work with people in a way that they feel like they “Can’t NOT” take steps to initiate change? The motivation shifts from an external push to an internal pull.
Be looking for more posts and resources on this topic as our curiosity leads us to more questions and hopefully … creative solutions!

I love it when we can work with wonderful people, who are doing great work in the world!

Rob and I arrived in El Salvador this morning. We were greeted and quickly escorted though customs via the foreign diplomat line! Now that is a thrill. We are surrounded by beautiful mountains, jungle, the city of San Salvador, a volcano and men with rifles to protect our peace. I just love entering into new countries, learning new cultures, and having great adventures!

Tomorrow we will lead the entire  El Salvador  USAID Mission on one of their first all team retreats.

Buenos noches!

A) The change occurring to the organization or system.

B) The effect the above has on the people involved.

Perhaps the single biggest (and naturally occurring) mistake I see leaders choose when trying to “lead change” is to get hyper-focused on  A, and forget or discount B.  Concurrently, another familiar story is that the people involved (B) are so focused on themselves and their experience, that they cannot see what and why this change is occurring.

The strategy to break this chain:

1)  Take a deep breath (everyone!)

2) Take another deep breath (everyone!)

3) Listen

4) Have compassion

The organization’s leaders – listen to what your people are saying.  For many, having a platform in which to vent frustration and be heard is vital to becoming unstuck.  Having the experience of being heard, people are more apt to play a role in the solutions and the necessary steps to help the change along.  Leaders, rush through this and beware – your work life equation will go like this:  the  quality of your listening = the quality of your change initiative.

The people in the organization – listen to what your organizations leaders are saying.  Isn’t it amazing how we perceive that only the biggest idiots rise to the level of senior management???  How is that possible that in every organization and in every sector, only the most incompetent get promoted to the top???  Try again.  Step back.  Breathe.  And listen.  These are typically well intentioned people thrust into a system where they are overloaded and burdened by their situation.  Their attempts to drive change may actually be for good, practical reasons.  The artfulness at which they introduce or drive the change may not be too skillful, though.   Rush past this observation and beware - your work life equation will go like this:  the  quality of your compassion = the quality of your experience.

The unfortunate and oftentimes prevalent organizational disease that overtakes everyone, at all levels during a change effort, is the dreaded “cerebral rectumitis.”   Don’t let it get you.  Be smart.  Slow down.  Listen.  Have compassion.  Breathe.

Venerable old structures that once served and protected us well can sometimes outlive their past benefit. When this happens, new frameworks and designs are needed to change the way we live and work. How can individual diversity play a role in this sort of structural transformation? Scholar, author and activist Alexis Pauline Gumbs raises provocative ideas about this in a new radio interview.

One such idea is to supplant the now widespread practice of Inclusive Diversity with more radical Transformative Diversity. Adding all different colors of faces to the corporate brochure—but conducting business as usual—is a classic example of the former. For diversity to become transformative, Gumbs says that the structure of how we do things has to change according to who WE are, the differences between us and the energy that creates.

She illustrates this at the community level with survive-and-thrive stories mined from black feminist literary history, as well as from informal conversations with other African American women. They are personal accounts of people transforming the world by the way they live their daily lives—whether providing alternative forms of healthcare to each other, or finding meaningful ways to validate their same-sex relationships when the state refuses to acknowledge them. Along the way, these subjects are “writing a different story about what it would take to create a world that was loving and nurturing, where everybody can do what they love and have what they need.”

The “space of possibility” figures large in Gumb’s thinking. She encourages us to imagine our personal and collective lives into a new reality, while we deliberately jettison what no longer serves us. And quite wisely, she cautions against self-hatred for being who we used to be. This is the healthy way of growing toward the future—as individuals, organizations and as a society. — LJN

My takeaway:  it doesn’t matter how good you are at what you do, you are always being watched.  And the more power or fame you accumulate only increases the scrutiny of how you carry yourself in and out of the office.  I challenge leaders routinely to ask themselves, “How am I showing up today?” as way to self-refer and be reminded that their choices are modeling the way for the their lives, and their success or failure at work.

Stay mindful out there, folks!

When brilliant minds collide new stuff emerges, like the future direction for the company. We spent a day talking about what we really want Continuum to be. Here’s some of the stuff we came up with.

1. We work with clients who are fast, innovative and cutting edge.
2. Clients who are part of the “For Benefit/Social Entrepreneur” movement, meaning people and organizations who are making positive change.
3. Keep it fun. We were thinking about high performing teams and one of the keys to success is that they work hard, kick butt, and have a blast at the same time.
4. Our team continues to grow to better meet the diverse demands of our clients. That’s YOU!

2009 was one of those make it or break it years for entrepreneurs and small businesses. It was a time that challenges us to break the status quo and really innovate to survive. We are excited about the new directions that have emerged, and look forward to partnering with our clients in new ways as we tackle today’s business as anything but usual!

Here’s how it works. We begin at the bottom of the S Curve to vision, create and grow a program or organization – note the blue line. The organization experiences success and growth as they travel up the curve. The challenge is that the things that made you successful in the beginning of a venture may not be the same behaviors, tools or strategies that you will need as you continue to grow. Sooner or later the company has to think and create differently. The old adage that the “things that get you here won’t get you there” is true.

For example, you have a visionary entrepreneur who leads a successful start up organization. Everyone they hire is a go-getter ready to take on any project. They work best when there are great challenges and little structure. Everyone is involved in decisions and forming the business.

Then the business grows to 100 people or more. All of a sudden you need more specialized skill-sets, standard operating procedures, common structures and procedures to continue to grow the business. It is time to begin a new growth curve.

This is where things get interesting. For organizational survival and growth it is imperative that you begin the new curve (idea, product, way of doing business,) before the one you are on crashes.

It is the space in the middle that is the most challenging. How do you manage through change and uncertainty? How do you get your people to change things that in the past have made them successful? How do you keep up with the every day challenges of your business and at the same time keep a visionary eye out for the best next wave?

Remember, that although jumping the curve can mean challenging times for your organization, it is also exciting. It means that you have been successfully growing your business. Don’t hold onto the past too tightly and enjoy the ride!

My facilitation partner that evening was a statuesque African-American man with very long braids. I was (and still am) a rather short Italian-American woman—with long dark hair too, but not nearly as striking as his. He was intuitive, I was analytical; we complemented each other well as dialogue partners. More importantly, we also trusted one another in guiding mixed-race groups through honest conversation about both internal and institutionalized racism.

After our session wrapped up that night, folks lingered together longer than usual. The participants had just broken through to new awareness, understanding and insight. We were all feeling good about the work we’d just done.

Finally the last ones trickled out. My partner asked if I’d mind closing up shop alone. “No, of course not.” I felt perfectly at ease in this space and in this neighborhood. So a few seconds later I was alone in our fishbowl, serenely restoring order and readying to leave myself, shortly after 10pm on a mild autumn night.

And then I saw the stranger.

He appeared out of nowhere, striding briskly past our picture window along the sidewalk that tracked just several yards from where I stood. He might have glanced in casually, as any nighttime pedestrian will do upon passing a lit-up interior. At our closest we were perhaps 20 feet apart before he vanished. The man’s sudden sheer proximity to me should have been the only thing startling about him. Yet as soon as I spotted him through the glass, my alarm automatically escalated to fear because of one pointed detail:

He was black.

A blitz of emotions and questions kept me frozen in my tracks: What was going on here? How could I, who had just teamed so comfortably with a towering black man to raise group consciousness, still fall prey to this kind of tired, knee-jerk reaction? Was I indeed the trained, sensitized anti-racist guide of my mind’s eye, or just a craven imposter? Clearly, I wasn’t yet rid of racism’s residue—this crud was really wedged down in there! And in a flash, I saw that expunging all traces of my own race-based fearfulness was going to take a lifetime.

It’s several years and many trust-building dialogs later. I do think I’ve made real progress. But the challenge remains, to confront my “stuff” whenever it rears its head and rises out of my gut. And with stuff like this, progress may be better marked by earnest, ongoing effort than by any hoped-for crowning glory. Transforming racism is a stellar reason for our reach to exceed our grasp.

Adapted from an original commentary by Laura J. Nigro, first published in Breakthroughs, the newsletter of Initiatives of Change-USA.